TORONTO – For the first time since he got his contract extension last April, whispers inside the Knicks organization have Don Chaney one more significant losing streak away from getting the boot.

Sources indicated upper management was evaluating this weekend’s set that began last night in Toronto. A loss to the Raptors followed by another bad showing tonight at the Garden against the hapless Hawks (off to their worst start in 33 years at 7-20) is expected to put Chaney’s job in jeopardy.

In his subtle way, GM Scott Layden stepped up the pressure before last night’s tip-off. After saying he was “unflappable” in supporting Chaney, Layden was asked directly when would he have to make a change.

“It’s a very fair question,” Layden said. “We have to focus on the next few games at hand. We evaluate ourselves every day.”

At another juncture, Layden indicated the importance of the weekend. “We’re finally at a point we have our full complement of players,” he said, “and we’re heading into a critical juncture with the schedule and having all our players together.”

And in another reference to Chaney’s future, Layden added: “We don’t deal with hypothetical situations. What we’re looking at is these games coming at us.”

If Chaney is fired, the Knicks could make former Hawks head coach Lon Kruger, now a Chaney assistant, the interim coach. Ironically, the Knicks face Kruger’s old team tonight. Kruger was let go nearly a year ago, the day after Christmas, with an 11-16 record. The Knicks also could promote assistant Brendan Malone.

Kruger, asked about the possibility of taking over if Chaney goes, said: “I wouldn’t expect anything like that at all. Ownership has made it clear with the circumstances, the injuries and different lineups, Don’s doing a terrific job.”

The Knicks recently came off a six-game losing streak, but their horrible 104-86 loss to Golden State apparently awoke owner James Dolan. The scores of empty seats – sections upon sections of the former blue seats were barren – resonates most with Dolan. If the Knicks (9-17) go winless this weekend, they would drop 11 games below .500, surpassing last season’s low-water mark of 10 games under.

“We’re not happy,” Layden said. “We’re not happy with the record. We’re not happy with the game Tuesday night. Those games are unacceptable. And everyone knows that in the locker room, from top to bottom. We know we’re better than that.”

Dolan, footing the bill for the league’s highest payroll, said before the season opener that with Antonio McDyess back, he “expects” to make the playoffs. He added the Knicks had “very high quality personnel.”

Dolan gave hints Chaney isn’t here for life despite having two more years left on his contract after this one at about $2 million per.

“If it doesn’t result in some kind of success over last year, I hope they will have to go back. We will all have to go back and . . . reassess it.”

Earlier this week, Chaney, whose Knick record is 39 games below .500 (66-105), said: “I don’t sit around worrying that I’m going to get fired today. If you’re concerned about getting fired and not doing your work, it’s a selfish thing.”

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The Knicks are testing Kurt Thomas’ market value, not as much because he’s disgruntled as because Dec. 15 marked the date draft picks and free-agent signings could be traded. Layden will want a lot for Thomas. He recently asked Toronto for their fourth overall pick, Chris Bosh.

Thomas said he would “accept” a trade and added about the Mavericks’ interest: “I’m from Dallas. I’ve always wanted to play there.”